Wheels are used to equip vehicles such as automobiles.
A prior-art wheel is equipped with a tire and electrical device that needs to be powered in order to work.
Typically, the electrical device is a sensor of the difference in pressures between a gas confined under pressure within the tire and the free air present outside the tire. Such a sensor is used to inform the driver of an insufficiently inflated or punctured tire.
Generally, to protect this electrical device, it is housed inside the tire. It is then difficult to electrically connect it to the battery of the automobile in order to power it. It is also difficult to power this device by means of power cells. Indeed, these cells are then difficult to replace since they are situated inside the tire.
Other means have therefore been sought to power this electrical device. For example, it has been proposed to use the accelerations of the wheel, prompted for example by impacts or vibrations, to produce electrical energy inside the tire in order to power the electrical device. This solution to a great extent resolves the problems of powering the electrical device. However, when the automobile is not used over a long period, the battery used to trigger the conversion of the acceleration into electrical energy gets completely discharged. It is then no longer possible to power the electrical device.